For All of Eternity
by Somizura
Summary: Basically, an alternative ending to Tuck Everlasting. I know that this has been done... many many MANY times, but please read and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Tuck Everlasting, though if I did, I would definitely change the ending... didn't like it one bit D

And so~ I wrote this instead! Please read, review, and possibly critique if you want to :]

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Jesse Tuck rode through the streets, the wind colliding with his helmet. Without it, it would be as though he was flying, free… but the stupid laws of modern day basically forced him to wear it. It wasn't as if he could actually _die_, but he supposed that they wouldn't know that, nor should they know that.

He scoffed lightly, before his mind returned to his business. He sobered up as his heart quickened. Even after a hundred plus years, he still longed for that girl he met all those year ago. For her soft, flowing hair, her warm and trusting eyes, and her laugh. God, her laugh was _heavenly_. Better than even the feeling of the water from the spring.

The Tucks really hated that spring. It ruined their lives, forced them to have to hide from society and completely disappear. On the other hand, however, they should be grateful. After all, without that water, Tuck would have died when he was bitten by that rattle-snake, and he himself would have died a rather nasty and gruesome death from that fall.

And without that spring, Jesse would have never met Winnie Foster, the one he promised, no, _gave_ his heart to. He hoped that God that Winnie had drunken from the spring, had waited for him. He pleaded and prayed while he was waiting for it to be safe to come back. The Tucks had settled down elsewhere, far away from Tree Gap, but even though they had lived there for decades, they all wished to return back to their home, the home that they had all helped make and lived in for eighty-seven years.

Before he left that… place (he wasn't going to call it home since it wasn't home), Tuck had warned him that Winnie might not have waited for him, that she might have had another family. Another lover. Tuck told him to prepare himself in case that she was… dead.

Jesse turned his motorcycle onto a familiar dirt road, smiling gently despite his anxiety. Even after one hundred years, some things just didn't change. He stopped the vehicle in front of the large gates of the manor, got off, and walked leisurely into the small woods, remembering the way as though he walked it just the day before.

The nostalgia hit him with full force a few meters in. The only organisms that, if left to die naturally, lived for hundreds of years were trees, resilient and ancient, older than he was. These were his friends, the only ones outside of his family that lived, rather than fade away like everyone else. Everyone else other than Winnie, he thought, shaking his head, his hair wiping his face.

He stepped cautiously out of habit, the leaves barely sounding under his shoes. He was hardly he breathing as he entered the clearing, and then stopped breathing entirely. There, in the center, sat a young lady with wavy long hair, folding clothes on the grass while humming to herself.

Jesse's weight shifted, causing a stick to crack loudly. The woman stiffened, before turning around hesitantly. Their eyes met, and hers widened considerably. "Jesse?" She murmured, as though unable to believe the sight. "Jesse. Jesse! Jesse Tuck!" she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and practically flew across the distance between them, embracing the man. He was rigid upon contact, so the woman swallowed and nearly let go, when Jesse held her tightly, swinging her around in circles, laughing breathlessly.

The moment when he had to put her down came too soon, and they found that they had managed to travel back to the center.

"Winnie." He breathed out, caressing her cheek. She leaned into his hand and hugged him once more, brushing her lips against his. She pulled back, before he captured her lips again, attempting to transmit to her all the love, passion, and yearning that he had felt over the years.

After a moment of silence, Jesse opened his mouth. "You drank from the spring." He gaped at her slightly, almost incredulous.

She smiled. "You said that you'd love me until you died… and we both know that _that_ would never happen. I would love your for all of eternity, but if I died, then I would be a liar, wouldn't I?" Winnie grinned cheekily, which then turned into a good-natured grin. "I drank from the spring on my seventeenth birthday."

Although she appeared happy, Jesse looked closer at her. "And your parents?" He whispered.

Winnie froze and her eyes dropped to the floor. "Dead. I left home when I was twenty. It would have been suspicious if I never aged, but I wrote letters to mother and father. We kept in contact until father's death. I could not appear at his deathbed, nor at his funeral. Mother insistently wrote letters to me, pleading with me to see him for the last time." Tears started forming in her eyes.

"If I had shown, she would have seen me just as I appeared when I left the house twenty-six years before. When I didn't show… well, later, we stopped writing all together. I don't remember who was the one who stopped writing first, if it was me or her." Winnie stared at something that only she could see. "And two years later, I received one, final letter." The tears started dropping.

"She sent it on her death day, begging me to come and see her. I couldn't. But it was her death day! I walked into the manor with a hooded face. There were less servants in there than there were when I still lived there. I suppose many were dismissed when father died. I told the rest to leave, and paid the doctor was to remain outside, for when she died. I- I spent the whole day with her, and in her final hour, took off the hood that threw a shadow on my face before. She, she was so surprised, but didn't ask any questions, and in the end, she forgave me for not going to father's funeral."

Jesse was silent throughout her monologue, before gathering her into his arms. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I should have given you the idea to drink from the spring. I- I didn't know how much _pain_ it would bring you. I apologize, I really do. Please, forgive me? "

Winnie pulled away, wiping her eyes. "No way. Why should I? I _chose_ to drink that water. And I love you so, _so _much. So don't apologize. I don't regret my decision. On another note, I now own the mansion… and these woods." She looked up happily. "Where's everyone else?"

He grinned and pulled her closer. "We're gonna go bring them here." She stared at him excitedly. Once he let go, she grabbed the clothes and stuffed them into the basket.

"Let's go put these away first, then we can pack for the journey." They stood up, and Jesse lifted the basket out of her arms. He looked at the clothes, and pulled out a shirt too small for Winnie to wear. He stared at them, before turning his quizzical gaze to her. "They belong to someone that I… took in, if you could call it that. Wait, you should meet her first before you say anything." She grabbed his arm and started dragging him back to her house.

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A/N: So this was the first chapter. I hope that you liked it... though I'm a bit worried because Tuck Everlasting (the movie) did come out about... what, 6 years ago? Oh well. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Tuck Everlasting. Now you can't sue me for copyright infringement... stuff.

A/N: Here's chapter two! I hope that people enjoy my story, and thank you for the reviews, the favorites, and the alerts! They really made my day.

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The journey back to the manor was a peaceful one. They were exchanging stories, mostly on Jesse's part. He spoke of the sights they saw, the places he visited, and the adventures the entire Tuck family went on.

"We traveled the across this entire continent you know? Managed to visit forty-eight states. Mae was so surprised when we went to South Dakota a few decades ago. The view from Mount Rushmore was amazing. Not as good as Paris's Eiffel Tower, which in turn makes it not as good as mine, but it was pretty good. We all agreed that my Eiffel Tower had the best view in the world. Miles wanted to get a raise out of me by saying the one in Paris beat mine by two-fold… it was a good attempt. Too bad Mae and Tuck supported my side. Sure, they were laughing, but it was still a pretty intense argument.

"After that discussion, there were a few jokes thrown around, but it became pretty quiet after that. Our faces and moods were happy, but the atmosphere… you can look everywhere, but there's very few places that feel like home. And our home is here, in Treegap. Everyone knew that, but we started getting impatient. You'd think that living for over two centuries would increase our patience… but we still act our ages you know. It'd be kind of creepy if I started acting like how someone my actual age would act." Jesse spoke animatedly while walking, turning to look at where he was going every now and then, but he was mostly facing Winnie. He was looking all over her face, as though he couldn't get enough of it.

Winnie laughed. "Acting like how someone your actual age would act? _Dead _you mean? I don't think that normal people could ever get to how old you are right now."

Jesse grinned good-naturedly. "I suppose. But you know, most normal people wouldn't be able to get to your age either, Miss Foster."

She slapped him lightly on his arm. "OW!" He exclaimed, clutching his arm dramatically. "I haven't seen you in about a century, and _this_ is how you treat me? I can see how much you love me!" Jesse grinned at her, to make sure she understood that he was merely joking.

"Oh, stop exaggerating, Jesse Tuck!" She giggled, before looking thoughtful. "Though you know, we are quite an odd pair. Living as long as we are right now."

He stopped, placed the basket on the ground, lifted and spun her once. "No, love. Odd is what you say when you don't know what to call someone. The word you're looking for is 'weird'. 'Weird' translates out to 'different', which could mean 'unique', and you, Winnie Foster, are definitely unique, which is why I love you so much!"

Jesse kissed her quickly and picked up the basket again. He noticed her staring oddly at him, and shrugged as he continued walking. "It was something I picked up over the years. 'Weird is good, strange is bad, and odd is when you don't know what to call someone. Weird is the same as different, which is the same as unique, then weird is good!' Or something among those lines. You coming?" He looked back at her. She blushed slightly, embarrassed, and jogged up the path to catch up.

He finally noticed the clothing that she was wearing a pair of sweatpants, a rather comfortable looking T-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. Noticing that he was looking at her clothing, Winnie grinned. "Styles these days are _much_ better than corsets. That's one of the better things that happened as society advanced. Like I told my mother: the French are…_were_ crazy."

The two finally exited the woods. After crossing the road, they entered the house. Jesse looked around curiously. It was his first time in there. Before he could comment, footsteps could be heard, rapidly approaching them.

"WINNIE!!" A small girl cried out and almost flew into her. Winnie laughed and caught her in an embrace as though it were a regular thing occurrence.

"Hello to you too, Vicky." She held the girl in her arms and turned to Jesse. "Jesse, this is Victoria Porter. Vicky, this is Jesse Tuck." She introduced.

Vicky stared at the stranger with her green eyes. After a few moments, she smiled brightly. "Hello, Mr. Tuck! I'm Vicky."

Jesse blinked, before laughing. "Nice to meet you, Vicky. You can just call me Jesse. Mr. Tuck is something someone would call Tuck." He explained to Winnie. "It's… it's just really odd being called Mr. Tuck. People rarely call me that."

"Vicky, did you clean your room yet?" She asked the girl, who simply looked at the ground. Winnie shook her head slightly. "Why don't you go and clean your room first, and then come and talk with Jesse, okay?" She looked at the girl as Vicky nodded and ran up the stairs. "Come on, I'll explain everything to you in the living room."

After settling down in the living room, Winnie began. "Victoria Porter was eight when she first drank from that spring."

_It was a blistering summer day in the year 1972. A young girl could be seen creeping near the woods. Creeping wasn't really the correct word for her actions. She was merely walking softly around the trees, brimming with curiosity. These woods were legendary. There were many stories surrounding it circulating the town. Strange ones would pop up every now and then, but only a few were about the owner of the woods. The owner was said to be a young and beautiful lady who would never sell the land. Few had ever seen her, and their mouths were sealed on how she looked._

_Victoria Porter was an orphan; had been all her life. Her parents had died when she was but a baby due to circumstances that never reached her ears. She stayed at a nearby orphanage. The lady who watched over all the children often overlooked her by accident because she was shorter than the other children._

_She took advantage of that fact that once, and took that time to explore the mysterious woods of Treegap. There, she met the owner of the woods, Winifred Foster. Crashed right into her actually. Vicky, once that she was in the woods, started running gleefully. She was so caught up in her happiness, that she stopped looking where she was headed and ran into Winnie._

_The two, after that meeting, started spending time with each other, as though they were sisters from birth rather than a pair of strangers that met the other just a few days before. Vicky mostly spent time in the manor with Winnie. If she ever went into the woods after that first meeting, it was always with Winnie. It was as though… Winnie didn't want her in the woods by herself… like there was something to hide._

_Two months after their first meeting, the two were in the manor once again. Winnie had to run on a quick errand to the town, and requested that Vicky remained in the manor. After getting the girl's agreement, she left, and Vicky was alone in the house. It was such a curious thing that there were no servants in the house. Winnie was rich. Didn't all rich people have servants?_

_Of course, being so young, Vicky dismissed these thoughts. After a while, they started heading towards the woods. What were in them? What were these woods hiding? After a short while, her curiosity started to get the better of her. A short trip to the woods wouldn't harm anyone. Besides, she had always been there with Winnie. She would just spend time in the areas that she was familiar in. Nothing bad was going to happen. And she was right. Nothing bad did happen… but something did happen in those woods._

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_A/N: Haha, yeah, the rest of the flashback will be in the third chapter. Please review or something if you liked it... reviews and stuff really serve as good motivators! Well... I don't think that the movie ever said where Treegap was located, or it slipped past me... but I decided to make it in... Maryland or something near that. Mind you, I don't live in Maryland, so the setting might be off, but oh well. Thank you for reading this chapter! Now I have to go plan out chapter three...


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